WORLD WORLDWIDE URUGWAY News Journal Update - (en) Urugway, FAu: OPINION LETTER: AUGUST 2023 (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 THE FIGHT FOR WATER CONTINUES AND THE CAMPAIGN TO COLLECT SIGNATURES

AGAINST THE SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM BEGINS ---- Since the end of the
dictatorship to the present, a model of looting and deterioration of
nature has been consolidated in the country . Since the 1987 forestry
law, more than 1,300,000 hectares of eucalyptus have been cultivated as
raw material for the three pulp mills currently operating. They were
built with free zones, tax exemptions, its own ports and in the case of
UPM2 with railways, all of which the population has paid for, and the
Uruguayan State has given to multinationals, prior free trade agreements
(FTA) and agreements secrets. It was known in recent days that we will
pay 600 million dollars more to the four companies that formed the
Central Railroad consortium for cost overruns generated by delays in the
works. For 15 years we Uruguayans will pay 520,000 dollars a day for
this work. If this isn't a full handover to private equity, what is?

The lack of drinking water in the metropolitan region and salt water is
not a problem of drought. This worsens a terrible scenario, generated by
afforestation and transgenic soybean plantations that contaminate water
and soil. The installation of pulp mills represents a projection of 3
million forested hectares, which will turn our country into a true
desert, plus the indiscriminate use of water made by these plants.

Big deals have been done around water: the Neptuno project, the increase
in the sale of bottled water, the irrigation law that enabled the
construction of private reservoirs, etc. The defense of water approved
in 2004 with more than 64% popular support said otherwise: water should
be managed by society based on basin commissions. This part of the 2004
constitutional reform is what the political system hides and does not
want to be put into practice. There is a dispute for power there.

Within the framework of said looting, aggravated by a historic drought
and cuts in the OSE budget, there has been a supply of salty water
contaminated with chlorine derivatives, affecting the metropolitan area
and also the department of Lavalleja.

Protests and different propaganda actions have taken place by unions
(especially FFOSE) and environmental groups, as well as the general
population. In these instances, the FAU militants through the
organizations in which they are inserted have deployed their efforts; It
is true that a higher level of mobilization would have been expected,
but the large social organizations have not promoted the issue towards a
generalized protest, conciliation has once again predominated.

Wage and Accountability Councils

The figures continue to be alarming: homeless people grew by almost 50%
in two years. The soup kitchens continue to alleviate people's hunger,
unemployment stands at 8.2% of the economically active population and
549,000 workers earn less than 25,000 pesos, 100,000 more workers in
that situation than in 2019.

All this is not taking place in a framework of economic crisis like in
2002, on the contrary, the economy will grow by 9% in this period of
government, but the distribution of wealth will be regressive. The
government will say that salaries in 2025 will be at the level of 2020,
but in the period there was a great salary loss that the bosses
pocketed. To this must be added the 9% of GDP that will increase as we
said in these five years. The "gold nets" -with the help of the
government- have looted the workers.

The economic policy has been one of adjustment for those below. All
kinds of social assistance programs - which were already in deficit -
have been cut as required by neoliberal orthodoxy and their hands have
been opened to the businesses of those at the top. The government is
also immersed in various scandals such as the Penades case and
pedophilia -covered up for a long time by a large part of the political
system-, the Astesiano saga, Marset and the entire drug plot, Bianchi
and his clearly fascist speeches...

Once again, the majority currents in the PIT-CNT have not deployed a
strong unified action to fight for wages and the "every man for himself"
predominates, where the "big" unions obtain crumbs and the "small" see
it happen, continuing the salary reduction , the dismissal of union
delegates and the promotion of sensationalism. In all this panorama, it
is worth noting the obtaining of the national holiday for taximeter workers.

Social Security reform: plebiscite and after

Once the social security reform with an increase in the retirement age
to 65 years has been approved, passages for all workers to a mixed
regime with the presence of the AFAP and other regressive measures, ATSS
- Social Security workers union- It has promoted a plebiscite to repeal
this norm, installing a constitutional reform, with special emphasis on
the elimination of the AFAP, of the interference of private capital in
social security.

ATSS was not alone, surrounded by the support of the Coordination of
Trade Unions, with strong support in the face of the pressures and
attempted maneuvers to which it was subjected to stifle the attempt to
oppose the reform, attempts promoted by the majority currents under the
influence of the majority sectors of the FA. The majority union currents
have speculated until the last moment. The definition of the proposal is
postponed for several months.

Finally, in the last Representative Table, the ATSS motion was imposed,
with the votes of the Coordination of Unions, plus the votes of the
unions with the presence of currents promoted by the Socialist Party and
the votes of unions that do not express their inclusion in any of the
the current currents, despite the fact that they entered the
Representative Table by the agreements of the last Congress of the PIT-CNT.

The abstention of the most reformist sectors within the union movement
decided the vote, in any case, it has been a legitimate and historic
victory.

It was possible with the accumulated work of a union tendency to
confront those who submit their social decisions to pure and hard
electoralism; It doesn't matter to them that workers have to contribute
five more years of sweat to retire with fewer resources. This is
understandable for the political class, whatever the hair, because their
lives and interests run far from the lives of the workers and their
struggles. They will retire as parliamentarians, ministers or senior
state officials.

Although it was not easy at all, the result of the vote in the
Representative Table was built from a class position, regardless of
class, sowing in dozens of debates within the unions the "how do we
workers live? How are we going to work five more years to retire with
less?" Pensions were already very poor, after this reform they will be
even more so. And the number of Uruguayans who will not be able to
retire? There is a huge portion of our town that will not be able to
meet the requirements to retire: due to lack of contributions, for
working in odd jobs for a large part of their lives, for living from the
fair, from harvesting, etc. All that portion of the people is excluded
from Social Security.

In addition to the conjunctural vote, the debate was imposed within the
unions, even those that work with a vertical logic, a legitimate process
of worker democracy was promoted as long ago, perhaps the most
substantial triumph within this process .

The union militants of the FAU, inserted in different unions, have
participated with relevance in this decision making at the level of the
PIT-CNT, they have participated with our style that social organizations
have the leading role and this could have been a reality because they
sustain unions, with the daily work of a militancy that seeks to
organize the working class to fight and be strong, not to herd it into
the corral of branches of the elections.

Our Organization has always been involved in this type of plebiscite:
green vote in '89, public companies in '92, teaching and retirement in
'94, defense of UTE and ANCAP in '97 and 2003, the constitutional reform
of 2004 for water , again the defense of Human Rights in 2009, against
the LUC. We have placed our militancy fully on the social level of these
campaigns, within the framework of daily struggles, adding these
substantive issues and which have a more strategic perspective in the
medium and long term. We have also contributed from propaganda as a
Political Organization in this sense, with our profile and slogans.

The Anarchists of FAU are not alien to these popular struggles in
defense of important social rights or to stop the capitalist advance, to
stop dispossession. It is our intention to organize the people and
advance in an organized manner, with a people that is strengthened in
each struggle and takes steps towards its definitive emancipation.

It is clear to us that this issue, like others, does not end with a
referendum. The fight for these issues will continue, because those at
the top will do everything possible to impose their vision and project
for the country and society in one way or another. This struggle must be
supported on the streets, with mobilization, with popular organization
that does not allow our rights and desires for a better life to be violated.

If the plebiscite succeeds and the law is repealed, a more than
interesting stage of possible new struggles and advances of the popular
camp will open, regardless of class; Also if not successful, the method
used to position the union movement has been an important victory in
itself. We can eliminate the AFAP; we will be eliminating private
capital from the management and profit of a fundamental social right.
Millions of dollars would be returned to public social security and
eliminate the much talked about deficit that the political class talks
about so much. Today the AFAP manages 20 billion dollars, a third of the
country's GDP.

In the month of August, such an important month of struggle for memory
and example of the Student Martyrs and the repression of the Filter,
redouble the struggle, recharge the energies that there is Resistance
for a while.

NO WORK UNTIL DEATH, NO INCREASE IN RETIREMENT AGE!!!

FOR THE ELIMINATION OF THE AFAP!!!

FOR DECOROUS RETIREMENTS!!!

AGAINST CAPITAL AND ITS INTERESTS, BUILD PEOPLE'S POWER!!!

UP THOSE WHO FIGHT!!!

URUGUAYAN ANARCHIST FEDERATION

http://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/carta-opinion-fau-agosto-2023/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca